SemDial 2021
Participation
If you are registered, you should by now have received an email with practical instructions. Please contact us ( semdial2021.organizers@gmail.com ) if you have not, so that we can resend it to you.
Our goal is to make SemDial 2021 (PotsDial) a fully hybrid event, providing both remote and local participants with a good conference experience, which as far as possible is synchronised.
As the COVID-19 situation is still dynamic and leaves us with many uncertainties, we will only be able to offer a somewhat rudimentary in-person experience (see below; basically, anything beyond the venue, such as social events, dinners, etc. will be organised on a self-pay basis); but nevertheless we will be very happy to welcome those of you who can and want to travel in person to Potsdam.
Executive Summary: The core of the event will be structured like a normal, single track workshop, with live presentations followed by some time for questions; audience and presenters are either present in person or via zoom. Posters will be presented (as a single pdf) in zoom break-out rooms, which will be mirrored by physical rooms for local presenters and audiences. The event will be scheduled for the local time zone (i.e., run from 9am to 6pm CEST).
Virtual Attendance
From within CEST timezone
After registration, you will be provided with a zoom link for the conference. Presentations, question periods, and poster presentations will be fully accessible via the call. There will be no difference in whether you join via zoom or are present in Potsdam.
To enable asynchronous discussions during break times, we will offer a chat tool (slack), with separate channels for each paper, as well as some joint channels.
From outside of CEST
After registration, you will be provided with a zoom link for the conference. We will record the live talks etc. and aim to make them available as on-demand recordings as soon as possible, so that participants for whom live participation is inconvenient time-wise can still catch up and participate in discussions via the chat tool (see above).
Please note that to present, you need to join the call live. (We will try to work out the least inconvenient slot for you.)
In-Person Attendance
At the moment (September 2021), the COVID-19 situation still provides us with some challenges that make planning a bit difficult. The concept for the in-person part of the workshop is hence somewhat reduced compared to “normal times”, but, we hope, still attractive enough for those able and willing to travel.
Venue: The workshop will be run from the University Campus Golm, which is a short ride by public transport from the center of Potsdam. The advantage is that we can get larger rooms there, should stricter distancing requirements come into force again by the time of the event. We will provide coffee breaks; lunch can be had at the University cafeteria (self-payed).
Social Events: As it is difficult to project the number of in-person attendees, we will organise social events (reception, conference dinner and/or event) closer to the event date and on a self-pay basis.
Participation: We encourage all participants to bring a zoom-capable device (i.e., their laptop) and headphones, to ensure seamless hybridisation.
Participation, COVID-19: The event will have to be run by the guidelines in force at the time of the event. We will update this page again closer to the date, but right now (July 2021), these guidelines would require: a) mask wearing when not seated; b) distance of 1.5 m between seats; c) contact details being taken down for contact tracing; d) a proof of vaccination, of recovery or a negative test. We strongly recommend that you only travel in-person if you are fully vaccinated by the time of the event (with certification, e.g. vaccination card or EU vaccination passport).
Travel, COVID-19: If you travel from abroad, please make sure that you are informed about the regulations at the time that you travel. For many countries, to enter Germany you must provide a recent COVID-19 test or proof of vaccination status; for some, you must pre-register those (see https://www.einreiseanmeldung.de/).
Hotels: We have prepared a list of hotels from which the venue can easily be reached. The venue – the Golm campus of the University of Potsdam – has its own (local) train station, called “Golm Bahnhof”. This stop is serviced by several local lines which connect it to the city center of Potsdam as well as that of Berlin. (E.g., the RB21/22 takes 35 minutes from Berlin Central Station to Golm.) This means that even hotels around there (of which there are many) are within reasonable reach, as well as those near to stops “Berlin Zoologischer Garten”, “Berlin Wannsee”, “Potsdam Griebnitzsee”, “Potsdam Hauptbahnhof”, “Potsdam Charlottenhof”, “Potsdam Park Sanssouci”. We would recommend looking for a hotel close to Potsdam Hbf.; any social events are likely to take place closer to that area than to the conference venue (Golm). You can check connections at Reiseauskunft DB or download the timetable for the line that services Golm.
Travel, Getting to Potsdam: Potsdam is right next to Berlin. You will be able to find out how to get there. Let us just point out that Berlin has excellent train connections to other cities and countries in Europe. There is also an increasing number of night trains that connect to here. If for you the destination is out of reach by train, please consider participating virtually instead of flying.
Travel, Getting to the Venue: See above for how to get to Golm Bahnhof. From the Bahnhof, there will be signs, but basically what you want to find is Building 14 on Campus Golm.
Information for Presenters
Talks Presenters of talks should prepare a presentation of a maximum of 25 minutes in length, and be prepared to answer questions for 5 minutes after that. (The overall slot is 30 minutes long.)
All presentations will happen via zoom. If you are present in Potsdam, you can present either from your own laptop (which has to join the zoom call), or from a dedicated machine. If you are presenting remotely, you just need to share your screen.
In any case, please send us the slides by email ( semdial2021.organizers@gmail.com ) at the latest before the last break before your talk, so that we can arrange for a backup solution, in case of technical problems.
We would like to make recordings of the presentations available to participants in other timezones who cannot join live. There are various levels of release: Video is available to everyone, available only to registered participants, no recording at all. Please inform the technical session chair before the session which level you select for your presentation. We will not record the QnA part.
Posters Posters will also be presented via zoom, in dedicated rooms. Please prepare your poster as a single page document, not as a slide presentation. That is, only put material in the document that you may need to point to when you answer questions, and focus mainly on getting a lively interaction with the visitors of your poster going.
Each poster breakout room will be mirrored by a physical room in Potsdam. If you are presenting from Potsdam, please use your own computer (which has to be in the zoom call) in that room. Your computer will be connected to a projector, so that local visitors can see your poster slide. Local visitors will sit down around the same desk (to ensure that distance is kept). In most rooms, we will provide a special external webcam that can view the whole room, so that local audience and remote audience is integrated. If you are presenting remotely, just share your screen.
Please keep in mind that the poster session time is shared between several posters. Please resist the temptation to give presentations; instead focus on inviting and answering questions. Be prepared (and encourage) that people leave and join continuously during the session time.
Asynchronous Interaction We will create a slack workspace with a separate channel for each paper and poster. As an author, please have an eye on this channel as well. As participant (whether local or remote), please engage there as well, to help with the integration of local and remote participants.